Free Cold Love by Amieya Prabhaker Page A

and
speechless. She sits down on the chair in the witness box, puts her face in her
hands crying, unable to respond.
    “Miss Riya, please answer the
question!” Banerjee bullies her by standing close to her.
    “No. Never!” She shouts back,
raising her head.
    “Miss Riya, did you ever have
a physical relationship with Arjun?”
    The public prosecutor immediately
intervenes, “Objection, my lord. Mr. Banerjee is harassing Miss Riya by asking
such baseless questions. We know that Miss Riya and Arjun’s families have been
close friends for a very long time, but such personal questions have no bearing
whatsoever on the case.”
    “Sustained. Miss Riya, you
don’t need to answer that question.”
    However, Mr. Banerjee has
other ideas and continues the onslaught, “OK, Miss Riya, have you had a
relationship with any other males recently?”
    Riya’s sorrow continues
unabated; she is now sobbing openly with tears flowing down her cheeks.
    “Objection, my lord,” the
public prosecutor tries to come to Riya’s rescue.
    “Sustained. Mr. Banerjee,
please approach the bench.” They talk inaudibly as Riya continues crying
unabated in the witness box. After a brief chat, the two lawyers return to
their seats.
    “Any more questions, Mr.
Banerjee?” the judge asks.
    “No, My Lord. Thank you Miss
Riya.”
    Riya gets up and leaves the
court crying. Commissioner Pratap follows her along with a female police
escort. Arjun is outside the court in the lobby. He stops immediately in his
nervous stroll upon spotting Riya and springs up to come talk to her. Riya on
the other hand, stops mid-way upon seeing him and turns, about to speak to
Commissioner Pratap.
    “Uncle, can you please drop
me home?”
    “Sure Riya. Do you want to…
freshen up?” Commissioner Pratap indicates the ladies’ room. Riya nods and goes
there along with the female police escort.
    Meanwhile, the Commissioner
updates Arjun on what took place in the court after he was forcibly removed
from the chamber. Riya returns in a few minutes and when Arjun tries to
approach her, she continues to walk to the exit. Arjun and the Commissioner
follow her. The court has broken for a recess and coincidentally, Mr. Banerjee,
who is coming the other way, almost bumps into Riya. She retreats immediately
to avoid Banerjee and bumps into Arjun, who was following briskly behind her.
    “Oh! Riya! It’s good that I
met you before you left,” Mr. Banerjee continues unctuously. “Listen Riya beta,
I have no personal grievances against you. I want to speak to you as an elder;
a nice girl like you shouldn’t get involved in this case. Take back your
statement and forget all about the case. Let the police do its work. A court is
not a place for a lovely girl like you.” 
    Riya responds furiously. “Mr.
Banerjee, what I need to do is my own business and I don’t need anyone’s advice
on it! I have said what I had to say in court. So please don’t ever try to talk
to me again.”
    “Look, you are like my
daughter Riya!” Banerjee raises his hand to touch her head; Riya instinctively
retreats to dodge it and in the process buries her face in Arjun’s chest. Arjun
grabs Mr. Banerjee’s hand tightly as he is about to touch Riya.
    “You heard Riya? Just leave
her alone, else…”
    Arjun twists Banerjee’s arm
strongly before letting it go with a strong jerk.
    Banerjee feels his wrist,
“I’ve been a lawyer for more than thirty years … and I’ve brought several
criminals to justice. So keep your attitude to yourself, Arjun! I have been
mindful of Riya but if I get down to the level customary in this profession, I
can create such a web…!”
    Commissioner Pratap
interrupts, “Mr. Banerjee!”
    “Commissioner Sahab. You know
the reality of the courts. You should have told the kids; this is not a walk in
the park. It will be best for all of us that we get to terms with the reality
of this case and what we really want out of this case.”
    He mockingly salutes